


To be friends with an old, cunning witch is...

by Magikarp_Karp



Category: Original Work
Genre: Demon/Human Relationships, Demons, M/M, Supernatural Elements, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:22:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24811504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magikarp_Karp/pseuds/Magikarp_Karp
Summary: To make friends out of this world.Luca had been running for a while. When he finally settled down he found that nobody could accept him for who he was except for the old, old woman next door. When she knew it was her time her grandson came to take over.There's something strange about Silvyr Tenebris and it's only partly that his interests match up entirely with Luca's.This is only a prelude to the book I'm writing. It ends abruptly and there's no real plot, just a bunch of major events that might happen. But I wanted to put it out there to see what you thought. Go ahead, give it a read, and if you please, tell me what you think.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	To be friends with an old, cunning witch is...

The gentle brunet sighed as another door slammed shut. He supposed that a man in a long skirt was too much for some people these days still. There was one more house left, the one directly next to his house.

Luca put another smile on his face as he approached the door of his new neighbor’s house. He hoped that they would be kinder than the last neighbor. Seeing as he was at the last house on the street though if they weren't his life could be very difficult.

He knocked.

"Just one minute!" an old voice warbled through the door.

There was a pattern of thump-steps as the occupant came closer to the door. It opened to reveal a little old lady shooing her cat away from the egress with her cane.

"Oh, hello dearie. How can I help you?"

Luca gave her his most charming I'm-an-heir-I've-been-taught-manners-out-of-a-book-and-practiced-in-the-mirror smile. "It's lovely to meet you. My name is Luca, Luca Ciresi. I'm your new neighbor."

"Oh, wonderful, I was wondering when someone would move in! After the last ones left so suddenly, I thought nobody would buy the house! Come in, sweetie, come in, I just made cookies."

Luca hesitantly stepped through the doorway and followed the woman through the brightly lit house to the kitchen, where, indeed, was a rack of cookies and something bubbling away on the stove.

"My name is Serafine. It's been so long since I used my last name, I doubt I remember it. Here dear, have some."

Luca took the plate of cookies and politely nibbled on one. There was a strong taste of cinnamon and cardamom before it mellowed with the next bite, which was vanilla.

"And what do you do, dear?"

"I'm a collector…"

  
  


Luca knocked on Serafine's door happily. It was Saturday and he'd brought a bunch of photos of his bugs. He waited for the usual thump of her cane on the floor, but it was a different set of footsteps that approached. They stomped to the door and unlocked it with great force to slam it open.

A tall young man Luca's age glared out, his flyaway white hair falling in riotous curls and waves. His loose white tank top bared tattooed arms to Luca's view, which the matching hands ended up in the pockets of his pants. Despite the scowl on his face, he was rather attractive.

"Hello?" Luca paused.

"Greetings." The man replied lowly.

"Is that Luca? Silvyr, dear, let him in! I'm in the kitchen!"

Silvyr stepped back and out of the way. Luca edged past the grumpy man and headed for the kitchen.

"I see you've met my grandson Silvyr. How are you dear?"

"I'm fine. I didn't know you had any grandchildren. You never mentioned it?"

"I have many secrets, dear. I called Silvyr here because I'll not be here much longer. I expect to leave everything to him, including the house so he has somewhere to stay. I hope you two get along."

"And this is Roy, a green-veined white butterfly. It took me a while to catch him, he was rather fast…"

"Lovely!"

The old woman ignored her 'grandson' for the pictures that Luca was showing her. It was his insect and arachnid collection. Silvyr was trying to hide his interest behind a large old book as he sat across the room in the leather armchair. He wasn't doing a good job.

"This is Edward, he's a Chilean Yellow Tarantula, I've had him about a year now…"

Silvyr finally stood and came over to peer over their shoulders at the spider in the photo. The two on the couch shifted out of the way for him to see better. He reached forward and picked up the picture to look at closer. Luca allowed it and just showed off the others to Serafine.

The delinquent looked at the pictures from all angles like he’d never seen one before. He slowly gave them back when Luca asked for them and left for the backyard.

“Don’t worry about him, dear, he does anything he wants. Now, tell me what you've been doing."

  
  
  


There was a knock at Luca's door. It was a rather loud bang that reverberated the wood. Luca was nervous as he peeked through the peephole. He relaxed as he saw Serafine's grandson Silvyr outside.

He unlocked and opened the door. "How can I help you?" He asked.

The white-haired man held up his dirt-covered fists. They unfurled to reveal…

"Grubs?"

"For your collection. I dug them up for you." Silvyr brought his hands together and the grubs pooled in the middle, some curled up some squirming.

"I-" Luca stared. "That was- very sweet of you. Come in, I'll make a habitat for them."

  
  
  


Bugs everywhere. In nets, in glass containers, in terrariums. It was an entomologist's dreamland. There was a case of shed carapaces from various spiders behind the couch. Silvyr sat in one of the chairs, staring around at the colorful decor.

"Here, put them in here." Luca held out a container of dirt. Silvyr gently dropped the grubs in the soil and went to wipe his hands on his pants. "My kitchen's through there if you want to wash your hands." He watched the other clear a space for the container, then stood and meandered to the kitchen, stopping to look at the displays on the way.

Luca was hyper-aware of the other man as he left the room. He breathed a small sigh of relief when Silvyr was out of sight. The white-haired man was rather intimidating when there was no Serafine to soften the presence. It was kind of him to bring the grubs, but the tattoos and bleached hair gave off a certain aura. He settled the container and followed.

Silvyr was staring at the faucet in confusion. There was no handle that he could see and he inspected it from many angles. Luca watched laughingly before finally letting out a giggle and walking over. He tapped the top of the faucet and the water turned on, startling the large man into jumping back.

"Never seen a touch faucet before?" Luca laughed. Silvyr looked like the water was going to eat him. He carefully put a finger under the water and pulled it back from the chilled water. Then he tapped the faucet with the clean finger. The faucet turned off.

Luca turned as he began to mess with the faucet, looking fascinated, and went to heat the water in the kettle.

"I have cocoa and tea. Which would you like?" The brunet called.

"I don't like tea," Silvyr grunted, finally just washing the dirt off his hands.

"Hot chocolate then." Luca pulled out the packets and mugs from the cupboard. Silvyr sniffed the air as the chocolate rehydrated and carefully took his mug, watching as Luca blew on his drink before sipping, and discretely copied him.

The cocoa was gone rather quickly.

  
  
  


"Hi, Serafine. How are you?"

The old woman smiled at her young friend.

"You shouldn't worry so much, child. You'll get wrinkles." She soothed.

"That's not what I asked…"

She chuckled. "Silvyr has been taking good care of me. Luca, I want you to listen."

The young brunet sat in the chair next to her bed and took her hand.

"Now, I won't last much longer."

"What?"

"Listen, child! I left my will on the desk. Silvyr will know what to do with it. I've left a few things to you, but most of it will go to Silvyr. I know you've become friends, and I want you to be able to trust each other. He still doesn't know much beyond what I've told and showed him."

"How can he not know-"

"He just doesn't dear. Show him the world, as much as you can. Take him to museums, take him shopping, just take him out. I'm leaving enough to cover him." She coughed. "Now, Luca, in exchange he will protect you. Tell him anything you want, go to him for anything you need. He's a good boy, and well-matched to you."

"Are you setting us up?"

She chortled. "If you want to see it that way, you can. Be good to him and he'll be good to you. He'll be around a long time after all."

"I don't get it…"

  
  
  


"A butterfly garden?"

"Mn. I haven't been to one in years. Sometimes, if you're lucky, a butterfly will land on you." Luca put down the brochure.

"Well dear, are you going to go?"

"I came to ask if you wanted to come, Serafine. Silvyr found the brochure, so I thought I'd ask you as well."

"Oh, no dear. You two have fun. I'll be fine."

Luca pulled his friend's large grandson to stand behind a line of people waiting for their tickets.

"Why are there four sets of doors?" Silvyr wondered.

"It's so that the butterflies don't escape when they open the way for groups of people. Also sometimes a butterfly tries to hitch a ride out, so you get inspected for any hitchhikers when you leave. One set to enter, one to go in the garden. One to leave the garden, and a little foyer for inspection. Then the doors to leave. It would be hard to catch the butterflies if they managed to make it out to here, right?" Luca explained.

Silvyr looked around at the large room with its many plants and the glass aquariums. Also, the doors opened and closed periodically as people went through them. "I see…" He caught a few people staring at him unabashedly. The tall man looked down at his tattooed arms and baggy pants and concluded that he stood out by quite a bit. He hunched his shoulders and slumped forward some. "Maybe you should go in without me."

"Huh?" Luca looked up from his phone where he was looking up the types of butterflies that would be in the garden. His wide gray eyes focused on his monochrome friend and saw how uncomfortable he was. They then darted around and began to glare at the people staring. He stepped closer and took the muscled arm in his hands, putting his phone away and leaning against Silvyr protectively.

"Ignore them. Come on." He dragged the larger man to the desk as their turn came up.

The garden was a large enclosed jungle. Beautiful flowers hung off rocks and sprouted beside the walkways. Butterflies fluttered to and fro as they made their way to different braziers filled with fruit and juices. The occasional moth fluttered about as well in the shadowed corners that the trees made. A waterfall provided a roar of background noise that accompanied the many voices in the greenhouse.

"Silvyr, come here! These are blue morpho butterflies, they have one of the largest wingspans in the Americas, the color is caused by their scales that reflect the light in such a manner that-" Luca continued to speak on the various butterflies he saw until "Hey! Shut up will you?"

Luca quieted suddenly and Silvyr, who had been listening carefully to every word, straightened to his full height and turned a nasty glare on the woman who had spoken. She glared past him at the smaller brunet, ignoring the danger wafting off the white-haired man.

"And why should he 'shut up'? He wasn't hurting anybody, now, was he?" Silvyr rumbled.

The blonde focused on him. She tossed her short hair out of her face and turned her nose up. "He was distracting my husband."

The husband looked embarrassed.

"Well, I was 'distracted' too. So were all those other people." Silvyr pointed out the crowd that had slowly grown to listen to Luca's explanation of the various insects. They looked slightly annoyed at the interruption.

"Showing off in such a manner is very unbecoming. Also, you are blocking the path." She sniffed.

The path was very wide here with benches for sitting. Silvyr pointed out that there was plenty of space.

The woman opened her mouth to argue more when Luca stepped up to catch Silvyr's hand.

"Ignore her Silvyr."

The woman switched tracks at seeing this. "I can't believe they let you people in!"

"And what exactly does that mean?" Silvyr growled threateningly.

"You gay people! You shouldn't be where us nice, normal folk go! Think of the children!"

"Excuse me?" Luca took offense to that one. "The only one setting a bad example for children is you! Your baseless hatred is rooted in ignorance! Just because two people of the same gender out together does not mean they are dating, though you wouldn't be able to tell either way! Love is love, acceptable in all forms, and that you don't see that is pathetic." Luca paused, "I feel sorry for you."

The woman puffed up then looked around anxiously at the murmurs growing louder. The crowd was agreeing with the brunet. A redhead stepped forward from the swarm.

"Your nagging and complaining are souring everyone's mood. Look around you! Everything was fine until you came around. And what do you even care who some stranger is with? Do you make a habit of sticking your nose into everyone's private lives?" She was holding hands with another blonde. "We were all having fun listening to that young man, he knows more about the butterflies than the staff here does. Nobody here minded until you shoved in your unwanted two-cents."

The husband gently began to pull her away, whispering soothing platitudes and words of apology to the others in the garden.

The redhead huffed and turned to Luca with a strained smile. "You were saying something about the monarchs? I think we all would like to hear more about them."

Luca only noticed the low growl when it stopped. He looked up at Silvyr who was glaring after the couple. He remembered…

_ Show him the world, as much as you can. Take him to museums, take him shopping, just take him out… in exchange he will protect you. _

_ He will protect you. _

Silvyr entered the quiet house first. Something was wrong.

"Wait here." He told Luca.

"What-"

The tall man disappeared into the dark halls rather quickly. Luca huffed.

After the woman he'd mentally labeled a Karen had left everybody in the garden had encouraged Luca to speak on the insects. He'd had a good time, while Silvyr had spent the rest of the trip looming over his shoulder like some monolithic guardian.

Luca thought he was taking the protectiveness to annoying levels, probably on the orders of his grandmother. But…

It was nice. The man was formal and socially awkward, but he made for a good friend to the bug-obsessed boy who'd only ever wanted a few who'd indulge him. He'd found one in his neighbor and another in her grandson. Luca hoped it would stay this way for a while.

Silvyr came back with a frown. "She's dead."

  
  
  


The funeral took place on a sunny day. It was chilly for the season, so people were bundled in their winter clothes. Not many were there, however. It was just Luca, Silvyr, and a few others that knew Serafine, although not very well.

It got interesting only afterward when a large group showed up to the will-reading.

"Hmph, and what are  _ you _ doing here, you thug? My mother would never leave such a delinquent anything!" The small woman with a passing resemblance to the deceased confronted the much larger Silvyr as though she was two feet taller than she was.

"Excuse me… I will now read the will of Serafine Tenebris. Ahem…

**I, Serafine Tenebris, do write this will as a distribution of my belongings.**

**To my dearest friend Luca Ciresi, I leave the trunk of books in the corner of my bedroom. May you enjoy them.**

**To my adopted grandson Silvyr…**

"What?" The woman interrupted the lawyer, "I never adopted anyone! How can she have a grandson that I don't know if I'm her only daughter?"

Luca looked up at Silvyr as the lawyer began to explain different legalities to the snobby woman. "Adopted?" he asked quietly.

Silvyr nodded. "She gave me a name and a home, as well as a family. I owe her." He looked at the argumentative group across the room that looked like they were about to explode as the will reading continued.

After the group did devolve into shouts and complaints, being left nothing, Luca took Silvyr's arm and led him out.

"So what was your name before?" he asked.

"I did not have a name." The larger man whispered. He looked down at the small hands on his arm and smiled faintly, before removing them to drape the arm across Luca's shoulders. The other man didn't mind and leaned into him.

"What did you say?" The brunet looked up at Silvyr.

"Nothing. It doesn’t matter now."

  
  


One month later…

  
  


Luca laughed at Silvyr's awkward attempt at a joke as they walked downtown. He was getting less formal in his speech and more free with his smiles. Luca had fun watching the man bloom like a flower in spring as he became more… human. It was strange, but Silvyr must've been antisocial before moving in with his grandmother, he seemed to have no idea how to interact with people.

Suddenly Silvyr draped his arm over Luca's shoulder and pulled him close.

"We're being followed," he growled. Luca inhaled sharply and shuffled even closer. "Where?" He whispered.

"Across the street, back away. Leather jacket." They made a sudden turn and slipped through the crowd to a quieter street.

"Silvyr, that’ll allow them to attack. We need to go somewhere with more people."

"Nah." He pulled them into an alley and pushed them to the end, which ended up dead in a wall.

"Silvyr… this is bad… why?"

"Ssh."

"Move in." The man in the leather jacket spoke into a headset. He along with three others entered the alley cautiously. Once out of sight of the street they drew guns and cocked them, prepared to take out their target.

"Isaia Accardo, show yourself."

Silvyr gently shoved his friend firmly behind him. "I would ask you all to leave. This human is under my protection." "Silvyr, what-"

Laughter filled the dark alley. The brunet flinched as another, more feminine voice rang out.

"Isaia Accardo, heir to Valkyrie Tech. and son of Giovanni Accardo. You're rather hard to find these days." The men parted for a rather well-dressed woman. She ran a manicured hand through her hair and watched as Silvyr shifted in front of Luca, the smaller man struggling to get out and find a way to protect his friend who wouldn't let him.

"Oh, what a great guard dog you have. Too bad it doesn't matter."

"Why are you after me? I ran away from all of that." Luca gave up. He slumped into Silvyr's back.

Something there shifted. He couldn't tell if it was his imagination or not.

"Doesn't matter to the boss. He wants to hurt Giovanni and everyone knows he cares about you. Boys…?"

The men aimed their guns.

"I'm sure that once the police find your bodies that-"

"You've made a mistake." Silvyr interrupted.

"Oh?" The woman wasn't happy about being cut off.

"I'm not a dog."

Luca was shoved back as something large slithered under the back of Silvyr's shirt and arched over his shoulder. He gripped the object reflexively and was startled at the armor in his hands. "Silvyr…?"

The man let out a chitter as his mouth shifted. The gunmen stepped back at the gruesome sight when he opened it and  _ something _ came out.

"What the-" that man was silenced as a brown blur dug into his chest. They looked to see the long, sharp barb of a scorpion tail.

It shifted back and the man who had been impaled fell to the ground, beginning to shiver from poison and bleeding heavily.

Silvyr clicked the mandibles that had forced their way out of his mouth. They opened fire and the metasoma blocked the bullets that came too close. It shifted and swayed in an unsettling manner, proving that it wasn’t fake with the too-smooth movements.

  
  
  


Luca held the chiton covered  _ tail _ that had sprouted from his friend’s back. It shifted as Silvyr stepped forward after the fleeing hitmen, stopping when he felt the resistance.

“Silvyr.”

He shifted and turned halfway to meet the gentle hand to his mouth. His lips had parted around the sides to accommodate the new features. He stayed very still as the fingers ran over the sharp hairs and gently prized his mouth open.

Luca stared at the fangs that accompanied the mandibles. He dropped his hand and the mandibles retracted into the sides of Silvyr’s mouth as the giant metasoma withdrew into the shirt and vanished.

“You’re… not human.”

“No.”

Luca took a good look at his friend. He’d never seen Silvyr actually bleach his hair, and the light reflected off his eyes strangely sometimes. He’d think about it later.

“Let’s go home…”

  
  
  


"I'm what humans call a demon."

Luca got up and left. The front door opened and shut.

Silvyr sighed and slumped in the chair. "Why didn't we just tell him?"

He wallowed in self-pity until he heard the slam of the door opening again. Luca stomped back in and shoved a book into Silvyr's hands.

"That's a book Serafine left me. Read it."

It was titled  **The Book Of Other Realms** . The demon opened it to a design he knew well.

"This is the ritual she used to summon me."

"Mn. I wondered why that was bookmarked. Now I know. She was a witch?"

The white-haired man (demon?) closed the book and nodded.

"Well, I already knew there was something strange about her. She liked to ask if I had any rare bugs come in and for different parts of the dead ones."

Luca sat in his chair. "So. Demon?"

"Mn…" Silvyr stared at the book in his hands a while longer before standing and shrugging off his jacket and the loose tank. He placed all of it on the table and moved away, shedding his shoes as well. The purple tattoos that covered his torso seemed to shift as he hunched there in the middle of the room.

  
  
  


CRACK!

There were cracks and snaps and little shivery sounds as Silvyr's back moved in multiple places. The tail made a reappearance as it slithered out of the end of the spine.

Eight holes burst open as gray armored legs slid out and curled around the hunched body. Silvyr lifted onto his toes as those changed too, something fuzzy and clawed taking their place.

Under the human arms already there the skin shifted and bulged, forming bones and muscle where there wasn't any before. Two new arms formed, covered in matching tattoos to the rest.

Slowly, the curled tail lowered to the ground. Silvyr hesitantly turned to look at the shocked human with his blackened compound eyes. Feathered antennae waved anxiously and the more familiar mandibles clicked.

"Sil...vyr… you just-" Luca quieted quickly and swallowed. The tail at the insectoid-arachnid's feet dragged as Silvyr turned on his… paw? It was a black and white spider paw with the two claws proportional to his size (meaning huge).

The legs on his back dropped to the floor to steady him as the large man tried to make himself seem small by slumping.

Luca reached out for Silvyr's face. His fingers trailed over the mandibles and moved up to just under the large black eyes. Hands reflexively settled on Luca's hips and waist to steady him when he reached up for the antennae and secondary eyespots on the demon's forehead.

"What're you-? Ah…"

Luca stroked the feathered antennae lightly. Silvyr dropped his head forward and if he could have he'd have closed his eyes. The delicate appendages were sensitive.

"This is the last straw," Luca whispered.

"Huh?" Silvyr looked up as hands clenched in his hair.

"You know," Luca said conversationally, "Serafine practically admitted that she was setting us up to be together. Is there a way to summon a specific individual with that spell?"

"Uh, you write the requirements in the circle…" Silvyr grunted as the fingers tightened in his hair.

"She was definitely setting us up." Luca came closer and gently set his lips on the demon's forehead.

Silvyr froze.

  
  


Luca slowly pulled away and stared into the emotionless black eyes. They shimmered iridescent in the fading light.

The hands on Luca's hips and waist tightened and pulled him closer to the shirtless creature and he leaned in slowly, giving time for Luca to move away.

He didn't.

  
  
  


The sharp hairs on the mandibles parted to make way for the soft human skin. Their lips connected gently, the prehensile mouth parts framing the human’s cheeks as softly as a moth's wings.

Silvyr sighed into the kiss. He startled when something wet touched his lower lip and gasped when he realized that it was the human's tongue. Luca took the time to invade the mouth and run his tongue over sharp fangs.

The mandibles tightened and relaxed in turns on his cheeks. The chiton covered legs lifted from the ground and began to wrap around the smaller human. The claw-tipped hands clutched at hips and cloth. Silvyr couldn't close his eyes like the human. He got a close up of the soft pink blush on the smooth face, the fluttering lashes, the quiet whimper-

Silvyr pulled back before he did something he'd regret. Luca opened his eyes with drunken slowness, lips slightly swollen and red. "Sil?"

The four arms on him tightened and slowly released. Two went up to frame Luca's face and brush through his hair while the other two carefully unhooked Luca's hands from their grip on white hair and held them gently between them.

"So… you like me then," Silvyr stated.

Luca snorted as he recovered. "I've liked you since the butterfly garden." He looked down at their hands, and then the antennae. "And you know how much I like bugs and spiders. You gave me grubs to make friends with me."

He paused in thought. "What exactly was your deal with Serafine?"

The demon chittered. "I get her lifespan here on Earth as long as I protect you to the best of my ability and stay your friend. I have a minimum of a month of not being your friend anymore before I'm forced back. Just in case there are any bad fights, she said."

"You get… her lifespan?"

"As many years she lived, I get the same amount of time on Earth."

"And… how long exactly did she live? Her daughter was… pretty old…"

"One hundred and fifty-three years."

Luca stepped away. "Silvyr, I'm not going to live that long. I can't, I'm just human."

The demon tightened his black spider legs around the human's back. “It’s not too late to learn magic. You can make potions easily if you have the ingredients.”

Luca shook his head in denial. “We’ll talk about this later. I… need to make a call to someone I had hoped to not see again.”

  
  
  


The brunet sat on his couch. It had taken convincing to get Silvyr to change back to his human form and let Luca go home. The large white-haired demon had seen his friend’s reluctance to go and tried to get him to stay, convincing him with hugs and actual pouts. They didn't work as well as he'd hoped they would. Luca still left.

  
  
  


Luca waited as the phone rang in his ear. He paced the living room as anxiety took hold.

There was a click and Luca stilled.

"How did you get this number." The harsh voice stated, not asked.

Luca took a breath.

"Father."

There was silence.

"Isaia. Is that you?" Giovanni Accardo wondered unbelievingly.

Luca sighed. "Yes Father. It's me. I was calling to-"

"I'm glad you're safe. I just got a call that you'd be taken hostage or murdered if I didn't hand over the controlling shares of my company. Be on the lookout."

"Father, that's why I called. Somehow someone found me and sent hitmen. I have a friend who took care of it but if he hadn't I'd be dead."

"...I see. Where is this friend now?"

"Next door. He's my neighbor. And…"

Giovanni, who was about to say something, stopped and waited. "And?"

"Well…" Luca mumbled, "we did kiss…"

"Hm. If this boy can protect you I want you to stay near him. Isaia, I'm sorry." Click.

_ He's never apologized before, _ Luca mused as he slowly took the phone from his ear.  _ Does he mean it? _

**Author's Note:**

> And that's that. What did you think?


End file.
